Guest guest Posted October 26, 2003 Report Share Posted October 26, 2003 Ken, Just to make clear - I think that your approach is the one most likely to enable CM to survive the onslaught from biomedicine. Besides the direct value of it itself. Please, please, keep on asking those questions, and making your points... Anyhow, if Bob Felt is right, we couldn't stop you even if we wanted to. Best wishes, Wainwright - " kenrose2008 " <kenrose2008 Saturday, October 25, 2003 9:58 PM Re: Taiwan > Alon, Wainwright, and All, > > The cyclical nature of our discussion > is dizzying. isn't this where we started > a month ago? > > Fakery in medicine is an ancient and > integral part of the scene in traditional > Chinese medicine. Unschuld's got a manuscript > that records one physician's thoughts and > advice on how to cheat patients and maintain > a competitive edge in the contemporary health > care market. > > Part of the traditional art of pharmacy is > recognizing the value in medicines. For centuries > that has meant developing the capacity to > discern the real from the fake. > > If there is a point to the discussion of > the past few weeks, it seems to me that it is > we cannot draw categorical boundaries and > define our own narrow perspectives as authority. > > I promote the resulting pluaralistic approach that > says we should embrace the cultural traditions > and the language of the subject's origins > because I believe it will serve us all > most beneficially in the long run. > > I think that drawing cultural or national > or ethnic lines in an attempt to define > where the reliable and unreiable sources > of data lie is fraught with dangers, seen > and unseen. > > I would say we must resist the urge to > do this at all costs, precisely because > we possess in the bosom of our own field > such questionable approaches to the very > same issue: legitimacy. > > Again, the question is to whom shall we > listen and why? > > If you haven't thought about that lately, > now is an ideal opportunity. > > It does matter. > > What is the point of reiterating over > and over that we have to be suspicious > of data from the PRC? Every time anyone > brings it up, everyone says the same > thing. We all agree. > > But notice there is a distinctly different > character of response when the arrow > points in a different direction. > > You say watch out for those rascals > in the PRC and everyone says, uh huh. > I ask two leaders of the field to > tell us about where they went to school > and people say I am on an inquisition. > > So where is that at? > > Part of the great opporutnity that lies > in the study and practice of Chinese > medicine, whatever that is in any individual's > rendition of it, is the chance to rub up > closely against another culture. > > Whether we be separated by vast conceptual > gulfs or bound by intimate human connections > when we meet one another across the boundaries > of space and time, very special perspectives and > insights emerge and appear. > > What a shame to lose them. > > Because we didn't have time. > > Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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